Our Pidge who adopted us about 5 months ago has just laid her second set of eggs (she has no mate so they are infertile). Her first set was only about two weeks ago. Since she didn't lay earlier I'm thinking she might be a young bird?? I also read that repeated laying takes a toll on them and that supplying them with fake pigeon eggs to sit on can help keep them from laying so often. Does anyone know is there any particular point at which I should take her real eggs away and substitute the wooden pigeon eggs I have (I got them from New England Pigeon Supply Co.). ? Sometime before they go rotten I imagine!
She's such a good little momma sitting on them all the time. She only gets up for a few minutes to get some food and water then back to her nest again. She's perfectly comfortable with me putting my hand in - as a matter of fact, she takes more time to eat if I sit there and cover the eggs with my hand while she takes a break to eat and stretch! If she looks at me as her mate she must really think I'm falling down on the job, not to take care of the eggs all day!
Thanks
Karla

Hi Karla,

Since your pigeon is a single bird laying infertile eggs, you really don't have to replace them with wooden eggs at all. She will sit on those eggs for approximately 3 weeks, maybe up to 25 days then she will leave them on her own. In that time the eggs will not go rotten but the only concern would be that she breaks them somehow and the yolk would get all over her and it makes a REAL mess!

Now if you do want to replace her real eggs with the wooden ones, you can immediately switch them. Usually people will switch the eggs as soon as real ones are laid and replace them one at a time.

She sounds like a sweet bird, you should post some pictures of her for us to see.

Hi Brad,
Thanks so much When she laid her first eggs it was a surprise since we thought she was a boy! I put a towel in and put the first egg on it, but she never got the idea and ended up chasing eggs all over the floor of her cage:nailb:one finally broke and we took the other one out. I now have a nest bowl and pad and tobacco stems for her which she is happily using. I'll just leave her with her eggs then until she loses interest and hope for no more messy broken eggs!!
I'll see if I can figure out how to post a picture of her - of course I'm very biased, but I think she's beautiful
Thanks again!
Karla

I'm almost in the same situation you are, Karla. I have two mated birds, WoeBeGone and Gimie. I'm STILL not 100% sure which one is the hen, but the eggs are always infertile. Gimie has a badly healed broken leg that prevents either fertilization one way or the other! Because of her bad leg, I can't leave real eggs with them because they end up breaking. SO, I give them to Mr. Squeaks, who considers ME his mate and woodens eggs to Woe and Gimie. Actually, I have kept most of the eggs they have laid and haven't had any problem - yet - with them turning rotten although a couple are turning dark. I even tried to hard boil them but the older ones broke and the newer ones had an air bubble and would break when Gimie stepped hard on it!

Be prepared for messy smelly poops when she's egg sitting! Sounds like you are being a GREAT mate, helping her "sit" the egges while she gets a break! We have other members who do the same thing!

ALL the best and we look forward to pictures!

Love, Hugs and Scritches
Shi/Mr. Squeaks/Dom/Gimie/Woe

Fake eggs are good to use just to prevent accidents. If she breaks the real ones, she will dump them and lay new ones. You don’t want this. You can change them anytime when she is not sitting on them.

Other thing of concern is calcium. Make sure she gets enough of it and vitamins too. I remove eggs but still give them breading mix and suplements to keep them strong.

Hi Plamenh,
Thanks! Actually one did crack somehow (I think she might have landed on it a bit hard ) and I've replaced it with a wooden egg. She didn't seem to notice the diference at all. I may do the same with the other just so I don't have to worry about a mess I have crushed oyster shells along with the red pigeon grit that she has available to her whenever she wants them. I've been putting a dose of the Missing Link Avian formula powder supplement in with her food - but am concerned that a lot of it just falling to the bottom, I need to find some way to get it to stick a bit to her food. The avian vet we took her took to suggested a mix of a pelleted food: Harrison's Bird Foods, Adult Lifetime,certified organic formula mixed with Goldenfeast Australian Blend for finches, canaries, parakeets, cockatiels, doves etc... its a mix of herbs, dried fruits, veggies & grains. We make a 2 to 1 blend with more pellets than Goldenfeast.
What is the breading mix you mention? I haven't heard of it before.
Sorry for the questions! I'm trying to get all the information I possibly can and learn I all I can so I can do right by her and any future pidges we take in.
Thanks
Karla

Shi,
Thanks for the info. I had thought of trying to hard boil them - but it sounds like just them alone, or using the wooden eggs is the best idea.
Oh my goodness - you weren't exaggerating about the poops Pidgima's must be at least 4 times their normal size and what a nice splat when she lets loose from a perch: yikes!!
Just out of curiosity do indoor/house pidges stop laying over the winter like feral pidges? Is it the length of day or the warmth of temperature that encourages them to lay? Our New England winter will be here before too much longer
Thanks!
Karla

Hi Karla,

I have 3 indoor pigeons as well and they do lay all year long, even in the winter. I find that sometimes, they will slow down a little on the egg production, but it never stops! The key is the warmth of indoors and plenty of food around. Wild pigeons will nest all year long in climates where it's warm and if they have access to lots of food. In cold climates like ours, then the wild pigeons will stop breeding due to the cold and less food available.

Hi Karla,

Like Brad mentions, climate can make a difference. We are pretty mild here and I'm sure our ferals lay a LOT more than their cousins in other parts of the country!!

Yeah, aren't the "mother lodes" something else??!!

I give powered vitamins and use a few drops of Extra Virgin Olive Oil to mix the power with the seed. Also, AFTER I open the Olive Oil, I keep in the refrig for longer freshness. I happen to have some extra syringes and use them to drop the drops...

Love, Hugs and Scritches
Shi/Mr. Squeaks/Dom/Gimie/WoeBeGone

Karla,

Too cute how your Pidge likes you to take "your turn" on the eggs while she takes a break!

Linda

Actually any powdered supplement can stick on food with some olive or palm oil help.

Red palm oil and olive oil can be mixed with food even without supplements as it is healthy for birds. Flax seed oil is recommended for soft and healthy plumage.

plamenh wrote:Actually any powdered supplement can stick on food with some olive or palm oil help.

Red palm oil and olive oil can be mixed with food even without supplements as it is healthy for birds. Flax seed oil is recommended for soft and healthy plumage.

Interesting, Plamenh...never heard of Red palm oil...where do you buy it? HAVE heard of Flax seed oil...actually, I take a Flax Seed Oil supplement capsule and my *feathers are less dry and more soft!! *skin

Love, Hugs and Scritches
Shi

Red palm oil one can buy in the pet shops here in SA. It is also available in health shops. Rich on vitamins and keratin, they use it in pigeon racing as fuel for racers and immune booster. I use it on my sick birds to speed up recovery.

plamenh wrote:Red palm oil one can buy in the pet shops here in SA. It is also available in health shops. Rich on vitamins and keratin, they use it in pigeon racing as fuel for racers and immune booster. I use it on my sick birds to speed up recovery.

Many thanks! Will check it out!

Love and Hugs
Shi